A Rock the Size of My Soul
by Sefrion
Summary: I wanted to be normal, I sure tried to be normal, but I guess sometimes you can't try too hard before you lose yourself. I knew what I was involved in and I knew it was dangerous. It was my final mission though, so I had to do it. I mean, I knew he was dead. I knew I got caught. I had to get away though. It was my only way out. Wasn't it? AU/Highschool HIATUS
1. Prologue

A Rock the Size of My Soul

By: Sefrion

Bullets whizzed by my face as I ran from the man behind me. In my arms it seemed like I was holding a pouch of sorts, it was black and made from some kind of soft material. I wasn't sure how it became to be in my possession, but the man wanted it. I knew that I needed to protect the bag with my life. As I turned the corner, my pink hair flowing behind me, another gunshot was heard and my leg erupted in pain. I looked down to see blood pooling around the my foot on the ground bellow and I silently cursed as it dripped and soaked the leg of my pants, making it not only heavier, but making them stick to my legs uncomfortably.

Being in the slums of San Francisco was a terrible idea. No one was around to help, or they just didn't care enough to want to help. I limped as fast as I could to get away from the perpetrator, blood leaving a track that made it very easy for him to follow me. Just ahead I could see my little blue Honda, my getaway car. I just needed to make it another few feet before I would be home free. His footsteps got louder as my pain heightened. A few more steps and I would be where I needed to be. As I reach out to my door handle, a hand captured my own. I looked up at him in shock and horror, cursing myself for not being a little faster. Then my eyes widened in horror as the cold barrel of the gun pressed into my forehead.

"Goodbye, Sakura."


	2. 01 My Final Assignment

A Rock the Size of My Soul

By: Sefrion

"Sakura!" My head shot up as I was jolted out of my dream -or maybe it was a nightmare- and I looked at my teacher, who was now glaring at me through her brown eyes. "I can tell you were paying close attention, so please solve the question on the board." I looked around and at my best friend, who frowned and shrugged, showing her phone to me, signaling she had been texting. Her blonde hair fell in front of her eyes as she looked at the screen, a smile over coming her features at what must have been a text from her newest victim, Shikamaru.

I sighed and stood up, walking to the board begrudgingly and reading the problem out loud to my senior class. "If you are driving at 80 miles per hour, approximately how long does it take to get 240 miles?" I looked at my teacher and frowned. It wasn't that I was stupid, I just wasn't the smartest person in the class, but this problem was something that even the class moron should have been able to figure out. I grabbed the EXPO pen and wrong a simple equation, then solved it to get 3 hours. My teacher nodded, saying it was right and that I could go back to my seat.

Kurenai looked around at my classmates, preparing to call on another one –probably Ino- when the bell rang. "Haruno! Stay after class." She sat at her desk and watched as everyone left. Ino gave me a look of sympathy and mouthed that she'd wait outside for me. I threw all of my books and pens into me backpack and walked up to the front of the class where Kurenai was writing some things down on a piece of paper.

As I stood in front of her, I awkwardly cleared my throat, signaling I was there. "Yes, Mrs. Kurenai?" She looked up at my and sighed, handing me the paper. I looked at her and furrowed my eyebrows, reading the paper and then looking up at her in shock. "Principal Tsunade needs me to fetch this for her? I told you guys I wasn't doing this anymore. I want a regular life, with friends and besides. I'll be 18 soon. I don't like these missions…"

A glare from my teacher quickly quieted me. "Look, Sakura. I don't have the choice, If Tsunade or I went, they'd know. We aren't young anymore. Ino can't do it, she's not skilled enough. Besides, there are some men involved in this operation that are your age. Ino would forget the objective. You know that you're the only choice." Kurenai folded her hands under her chin. "There was one more choice, but seeing as you decided to take a nap in my class today, I'll just go ahead and choose you for this mission." She waved me off and gave me another slip of paper. "Go ahead and give this to Tsunade. It'll excuse you from school until you get back from the mission." With that, Kurenai looked down and went back to grading our last test, telling me that the decision was final and nothing I could say would change that.

I walked out of the classroom and looked at Ino, showing her the piece of paper that was to go to Tsunade. She read it over and looked at me in shock. "Sakura, have you READ this yet?" I shook my head and kept walking until she grabbed my arm and looked at me sternly. "You should probably read this. It's a long time to be away from school…" I looked at her questioningly and she stuffed the paper in my hand, frowned deeply. When looking at the note for the first time, my mouth dropped in shock, horror, and probably a million of other emotions that were going through my mind all at once.

**As of 03/23/15, Sakura Haruno is to be excused from class for personal reasons. She may return at earliest 03/23/16, unless extended time off is needed.**

**Signed, Kurenai Yuhi**

I gaped at the note and turned my eyes to the classroom I just ended my school day in. Abruptly, my legs turned and I marched straight back into the room, a dark glare turned on my mentor. "A YEAR?!" She glanced up for a second, then turned her eyes back to the papers she was grading nonchalantly. "You want me to leave school for a year, Kurenai?! I have friends, they'll worry about me! And what about INO?! She won't have anyone t share all of those boy problems with, who do you think you are, taking me out in the middle of my final year?! It's my SENIOR year, Kurenai. I want to live a normal life, but now this?" Kurenai shot me a look and I bit my tongue. "My birthday is coming up soon, as well."

She sighed. "Sakura… I'll make you a deal, you can stay for your birthday, but until then, I don't want to hear anything else about this. It's a very important mission, you are the only person we can entrust this to. Also, we've decided that if you pull this off, you'll be able to retire. The agency will provide for you until you die." I looked at her in surprise. That big of a mission isn't something I was very comfortable doing, but they had given me no choice. She took the note and crossed some things out, then rewrote them. I looked at it and sighed sadly, not ready to leave my friends on their own.

**As of ****03/23/15**** 03/30/15, Sakura Haruno is to be excused from class for personal reasons. She may return at earliest ****03/23/****16 03/30/16, unless extended time off is needed.**

**Signed, Kurenai Yuhi**

With a huge amount of remorse, I nodded grimly. I didn't think that I could leave my friends here. They needed me. I was an average girl. I did well, wasn't the best, I smiled and laughed. Well, that's what I wanted to think. In reality, there was nothing average about me. I worked as a spy, the top young female for my agency. I got into dangerous situations on a regular basis, I was a black belt in multiple different Asian fighting styles, and I knew how to wrestle, box, even kill a person with one hand (not that I've ever killed a person at all). Okay, so, maybe I wasn't all that ordinary, but I sure wanted to be.

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Alright, so this is the first official chapter. I noticed while reading my works from the past that I had a huge problem with time. I wrote so much, that I felt the time progressed slowly enough in my stories, but the reality of it all was that it passed much too fast. I plan on working on this aspect in my writing. Please leave constructive criticism and such. Flames are fine, if you hate y story, my style of writing, my characters, let me know. I'm not afraid of hateful words because in the end, I know what I need to work on. I write for me, not you. It's so I can accomplish my goals. I need to know what to work on and, unfortunately, college is a far off dream as of right now.

On a more positive note, I hope everyone enjoyed the first chapter and please let me know your thoughts.

**Thank you, Sefrion Darkstorm**


	3. 02 Getting Ready

A Rock the Size of My Soul

By: Sefrion

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The next week was a blur, my friends and I had to prepare for my birthday party. I was, after all, turning 18, so it had to be the biggest birthday bash of my life. My parents at home were leaving for the weekend (probably another "business" trip), so we had the house to ourselves. It was now only about three days until Saturday, and we still had so much more to do. The house was currently in a state of overwhelming chaos. Everywhere I looked, I saw dirt, dirt, and even more dirt. I'm not sure if it was just me, but I know that if it isn't spotless, my popularity level will continue to diminish and that'd just be a pain in the rear end. With that though, I grabbed my favorite feather duster and started to clean. As I dusted my house, I came across a few things that surprised me. It really threw me off because I thought I knew my home better than anyone, but I guess all the years I've lived here, I just forgot about some things.

For example, there was an old picture of myself. I was maybe five or six years old. I couldn't remember exactly when the picture was taken, but it was sometime before my sister disappeared. She was holding me with a large smile and her bright red eyes stood out behind her glasses. I sighed, putting my fingers on her face with a sad smile. "Karin." Softly, I stroked the glass and put the picture down, looking at the next one over. I tilted my head slightly and creased my eyebrows. I couldn't tell who was in this picture at all. He looked dark, eyes almost completely black, and his hair almost just as dark his eyes. Next to him was my sister again, they were grinning broadly and sending peace signs to the camera while their other hands were linked together. I tried to pick his name out in my head, but I couldn't seem to remember it at all.

I briefly wondered where Karin disappeared off to all those years ago when the doorbell rang. I looked at the old grandfather clock stood in my living room, then shrugged. There was still a good four hours until my birthday party started and I still had a lot of cleaning to do, but I looked through the peephole to see a blonde haired, blue eyed, Ino Yamanaka grinning widely, her teeth so white they almost blinded me. With a loud sigh, I opened up the door and she pushed past me, looking around as she walked through the main room and into the kitchen. "So, I just got some money from my parents. They said to spend it on anything that we need for your birthday party." She turned and grinned at me. "Also, remember Sai? That college guy I've been talking to?" I nodded and stared at her. "Don't give me that look, Haruno!" She grabbed a yogurt out of the fridge and went through the kitchen, looking for the spoons. "Considering how often eat your food, you'd think I'd remember where the spoons are." She opened another drawer, "Ah! There they are." She took a spoonful and started eating, looking at me momentarily before blinking. "What?"

I jumped up to sit on the counter and rolled my eyes. "Ino, you were saying something about that college guy, remember? Sai, or something like that?" This blonde was honestly true to the stereotype. She leaned against the counter and sighed happily, which definitely had me raising my eyebrow in worry. "Is there something that I need to know," I hopped off of the counter and opened my fridge, reaching in for a yogurt, and scowled towards Ino, "because you sure seem happy considering you're eating my last strawberry yogurt." She smiled apologetically and handed the rest of hers to my awaiting hands. "At least it's half full…"

"Sorry, love, but I was hungry." She shrugged her shoulders and grabbed an apple out of the bowl of fruit on the island. "Anyways, Sai said that he'd come here for the birthday and that he'd even volunteer to bring the booze, as a birthday gift." She giggled quietly and I rolled my eyes, then shook my head towards her. "Awe, come on, Sakura! If you have a huge birthday bash, everyone will look up to you! It'll be instant popularity. Don't you want everyone to know who you are?" She pouted her lips and held onto my hand with her left hand, taking a bite out of the apple in the right quickly enough to return to pouting just a few seconds later. "I mean, I'm hot, so everyone already knows who I am. Sure, some of the girls might think I'm a whore, but in reality I've only done THAT with, like, four guys." She continued rambling on, once again going off topic.

I pushed her hand off of my arm and rolled my eyes. "If I tell you that they can bring alcohol, will that shut you up?" She nodded in excitement and I sighed. "Fine, BUT," Ino frowned, "no drinking for you." I cut her off as soon as she opened her mouth to protest. "I'm going to stand by that door with wrist bands to make sure there's no underage drinking!" My friend let out a long, exasperated sigh before opening her mouth to argue with me. "No. It's my home, I will make the decisions. Now, I still have a lot of cleaning to do so either help me, or get out." I snatched the apple away from her and took a bite out of it, handing it back to her and walking into my living room again.

Behind me, a soft patting noise followed, the blonde head harboring a pouty face all the way through my home. "Sakura, please? Everyone else does it." I gave her a look and she grinned. "I mean, it's expected of teenagers to act out when their parents aren't home." I kept walking away from her when the flip flop sound ceasing. I turned and looked at her, a strong sense of horror arising in my head. "Kiba will be coming." She smiled evilly, knowing I couldn't resist Sai's best friend, even if my life depended on it. "He broke up with his girlfriend a few weeks ago, too. So he's looking for a new girl. He likes the nice and innocent ones, you know. Just like you?" I could feel my resolve starting to break. "Last time I hung out with Sai, well…" She walked up to me and whispered in my ear softly. "Well, he said he thought you were hot."

She grinned and backed up, studying my face for a reaction, jumping up excitedly when I nodded my head, "Fine, Ino. You guys can drink underage. You better not get me in trouble though!" Her eyes lit up and she looked at me happily, hugging me and kissing my cheek. "You'll never breathe again if I end up regretting this." I grabbed the vacuum and handed it over to her, smiling. "Because I was so very kind, I decided that you will be vacuuming the entire house. That includes my room, the office, the spare bedroom, and every hallway." She pursed her lips and groaned. "Hey, I'm not doing it alone. Besides, my parents fired the pool boy again, so I have to go skim it." I turned around and walked back through my kitchen and slid open the glass door, stepping out into the backyard. I smiled and looked at my pool, grabbing the net t get all of the leaves that fell into it.

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Once the water was crystal clear, I headed back inside, I looked around and listened to the silence of the house. "Ino…" I growled her name out and went into the living room. Upon seeing the vacuum, I glared at the piece of paper connected to it. I snatched it up and scanned it over, "'Sorry, Sakura, but Sai needed help with something. Maybe I can help next time. XOXO Ino.' That jerk." I crumpled up the paper and threw it into the trash can, groaning whilst doing so. I took the handle to the vacuum and started to vacuum the house. I made quick work of my parents' room and the study, moving down the hallway into my own bedroom. It was a decent size. The walls were painted cerulean and my bedding matched my curtains. My walls were pretty bare other that a few paintings that I drew when I was younger and much more artistic. I had a few pictures on the walls as well. As for furniture, there was my queen sized bed, a dresser, then also a computer desk with my laptop in the place of a desktop computer. I continued to vacuum my room, nonchalantly looking at the pictures that I had on my dresser and walls. I scrunched my eyebrows together when I saw a picture of my and the male that I assumed was Karin's boyfriend. I tilted my head a bit. "Who are you to me?"

Suddenly there was a noise downstairs, some kind of loud bang. At first I thought that it could be Ino, coming back to help her friend that she deserted completely, but then I heard heavy footsteps. With a surge of panic, I dropped the vacuum and ran into my closet, looking through the small space in between the doors. I tried to be quiet when a man came in to my room. I studied him inquisitively. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, a fair enough build. He was frowning towards the vacuum and looked behind him. "Do you think she's here?" He had a high pitched voice and sounded slightly excited. "What should we do, Sas-"

A second voice quickly caught him off before I could hear the other person's voice. "Shut up, dumbass. If she is here and she is hiding, the last thing we need is for her to know out names." A chill ran through my spine. I knew this voice. I wasn't sure where I heard it from, but it was deep and sensual. I couldn't put my finger on who this voice belonged to and I was to shocked to move. Sure, I was an amazing fighter, but that didn't mean that I wanted to destroy my room before I have my birthday party. I watched as the blonde started to look through my things, frowning deeper until he turned to look at the mysterious male that was behind him. "Find anything?" I watched the first guy shake his head, then nod in what I assumed was the other male waving him to go. "We're done here. I guess we just need to wait for her to come to us. Let's go so she can come out of the closet." My entire body froze and I held my breath as the blonde looked at the closet with obvious surprise on his face. He took a step towards me and I prepared to fight. "Leave her be."

After hesitating, the male sighed and walked off. I sat down and listened to their footsteps going down the hall. I could only hear the one pair, so I was confused. Weren't there just two people here? After the steps were gone, I crawled out of the closet and looked at my room. That guy had gone through everything, but it seemed as if no one had touched anything. I didn't know who they were or who sent them, but whoever it was, they were good at their job, whatever that was.

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So! Chapter two is done. It's almost twice as long as the first one. I feel like this story is progressing very slowly, but my readers might think that it's progressing too fast. I'm not too sure, but let me know your opinions.

Thank You,

Sefrion


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